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The Lazy Persons Pot Roast or Yankee Pulled Beef

Posted
on May 04, 2010

Fall has most definitely arrived and we are drawn to stews, braises, and soups. But, typically there is no time for such luxuries during the week. Wanting something richly flavored and warm, but too lazy to prepare all that is needed for a pot roast, I threw a piece of beef (chuck, the only way to go for pot roast) into the oven and forgot about it. At 5:30, 4 hours later, I found myself with a very well braised piece of meat, all by itself. But I wanted pot roast. So, this is what I did:

This is not a recipe. This isn’t the kind of dish that really needs a recipe. Simply grab a few things and cook. Sauté a bunch of coarsely chopped onions and sliced celery. Add a bunch of sliced carrots, cover and cook. Remove the meat from the broth and thicken juices if you want. (I used a tiny bit of flour and butter mixed together, called beurre manie in French cooking.) Dump the cooked veggies into the gravy. Shred the meat, removing as much fat as you can or want to, and add it to the pot. Gently toss everything together. Now you have pulled beef, just like pulled pork, but with gravy instead of barbeque sauce. I did not have a lot of juices, but it was just enough for pulled beef. It was delectable.

Add or change the vegetables to suit your taste or what you have on hand. Feel free to add potatoes. I was too lazy to peel them. You could also serve over egg noodles.